Hardware

Word
Definition
Citation
Bus
(Bidirectional Universal Switch) is a subsystem that transfers data or power between computer components inside a computer or between computers
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CPU
Central Processing Unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer capable of executing a program.
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USB
A plug-and-play interface between a computer and add-on devices (such as audio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners, and printers).
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Firewire
FireWire is Apple Computer�s version of a standard, IEEE 1394, High Performance Serial Bus, for connecting devices to your personal computer.
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Hard drive
Storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces.
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Floppy drive
A data storage device that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible (�floppy�) magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell.
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CD-ROM
(Compact Disc read-only memory) is a Compact Disc that contains data accessible by a computer.
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CD-RW
Compact Disc ReWritable (CD-RW) is a rewritable optical disc.
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Desktop
A desktop computer is a computer made for use on a desk in an office or home and is distinguished from portable computers such as laptops or PDAs.
Reference Page
SIMM
(Single In-line memory module), is a type of memory module used for random access memory in personal computers.
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DIMM
(Dual In-line memory module), comprises a series of random access memory integrated circuits.
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RAM
(Random Access Memory) is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer�s processor.
TechTarget Page
COM1
In a PC, the name assigned to the first serial port.
Free Dictionary Page
ROM
A class of storage media used in computers and other electronic devices and cannot be modified.
Wikipedia Page
Parallel
Of or pertaining to the apparent or actual performance of more than one operation at a time, by the same or different devices.
Dictionary
Serial
A serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time.
Wikipedia Page
NIC
(Network Interface Card) Pronounced "nick," this is the card that physically makes the connection between the computer and the network cable.
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ISP
(Internet Service Provider) In order to connect to the Internet, you need an ISP. It is the company that you pay a monthly fee to in order to use the Internet.
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Modem
(from modulate and demodulate) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information.
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Availabilty
The degree to which a system, subsystem, or equipment is operable and in a committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at an unknown, i.e., a random, time.
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File server
� A form of disk storage that hosts files within a network; file servers do not need to be high-end but must have enough disk space to incorporate a large amount of data.
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LAN
(Local Area Network) A computer network limited to a small area such as an office building, university, or even a residential home.
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Hub
A device that allows many USB devices to be connected to a single USB port on the host computer or another hub.
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Router
A device that extracts the destination of a packet it receives, selects the best path to that destination, and forwards data packets to the next device along this path.
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Switch
A network switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments.
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Server
serves information to computers that connect to it. When users connect to a server, they can access programs, files, and other information from the server.
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ISP
(Internet Service Provider) In order to connect to the Internet, you need an ISP. It is the company that you (or your parents) pay a monthly fee to in order to use the Internet.
TechTerms Page
ASP
(Application Service Provider) A third-party company that distributes software-based services from a central location to customers in other locations.
TechTerms Page






Software

Word
Definition
Citation
URL
(Uniform Resource Locator) a protocol for specifying addresses on the Internet.
Dictionary
SCSI
A standard for computer interface ports featuring faster data transmission and greater flexibility than normal ports.
Dictionary
RS232
(Recommended Standard 232) is a standard for serial binary data signals.
Wikipedia Page
Binary number
Base-2 number system, is a numeral system that represents numeric values using two symbols, usually 0 and 1.
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Hexadecimal
Base-16, or simply hex, is a numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16, usually written using the symbols 0�9 and A�F, or a�f. Its primary purpose is to represent the binary code in a format easier for humans to read, and acts as a form of shorthand, in which one hexadecimal digit stands in place of four binary bits.
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Octet
A grouping of eight bits.
Referance Page
ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding based on the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that work with text.
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URL
(Uniform Resource Locator) A URL is the address of a specific Web site or file on the Internet.
Techterms Page
URI
(Uniform Resource Identifier) A compact string of characters used to identify or name a resource.
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HTTP
(HyperText Transfer Protocol) This is the protocol used to transfer data over the World Wide Web.
Techterms Page
Network neutrality
Term used to describe networks that are open to equal access to all . They are non-discriminatory as they do not favor any one destination or application over another.
Webopedia Page
Blog
Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Webopedia Page
Wiki
A collaborative Web site comprises the perpetual collective work of many authors. Similar to a blog in structure and logic, a wiki allows anyone to edit, delete or modify content that has been placed on the Web site using a browser interface, including the work of previous authors.
Webopedia Page
FAT
Short for File Allocation Table, FAT is a method used by Microsoft operating systems to keep track of the contents of a disk; the table is a chart of numbers that correspond to cluster addresses on the hard drive.
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NTFS
Stands for "New Technology File System." NTFS is a file system introduced by Microsoft with Windows NT and is supported by subsequent versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Techterms Page
Operating System
Also known as an "OS," this is the software that communicates with computer hardware on the most basic level.
Techterms Page
Device driver
A device driver, or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a computer hardware device.
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IDE
The IDE keeps track of all files related to a project and provides a central interface for writing source code, linking files together, and debugging the software.
Techterms Page
Virtual memory
An imaginary memory area supported by some operating systems (for example, Windows but not DOS) in conjunction with the hardware.
Webopedia Page
Fragmentation
A phenomenon that leads to inefficiency in many forms of computer storage.
Wikipedia Page
Virtual machine
is software that creates a virtualized environment between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate software on an abstract machine.
Wikipedia Page
Worm
A computer worm is a type of virus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine.
TechTerms Page
VPN
(Virtual Private Network)a network that is connected to the Internet, but uses encryption to scramble all the data sent through the Internet so the entire network is "virtually" private.
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Pretty Good Privacy
PGP encryption uses public-key cryptography and includes a system which binds the public keys to a user name.
Wikipedia Page
Audit Log
a chronological sequence of audit records, each of which contains evidence directly pertaining to and resulting from the execution of a business process or system function.
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Buffer Overflow
a programming error which may result in a memory access exception and program termination, or in the event of the user being malicious, a possible breach of system security.
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Logic bomb
A piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met.
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Strong Password
A security measure of passwords.
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Authentication
The process of attempting to verify the digital identity of the sender of a communication such as a request to log in.
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Virus
A computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user.
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Firewall
A hardware or software device which is configured to permit, deny, or proxy data through a computer network which has different levels of trust.
Wikipedia Page
Spam
The abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.
Wikipedia Page
PKI
(Public Key Infrastructure) An arrangement that binds public keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate authority (CA).
Wikipedia Page
Encryption
is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key.
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CVS
(Concurrent Versions System) An open-source version control system that keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, typically the implementation of a software project, and allows several (potentially widely-separated) developers to collaborate.
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P2P
(Peer To Peer) "Peers" are computer systems which are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can be shared directly between systems on the network without the need of a central server.
TechTerms Page
FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) A common method of transferring files via the Internet from one computer to another.
TechTerms Page
Broadband
A signaling method that includes or handles a relatively wide range of frequencies, which may be divided into channels or frequency bins.
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BitTorrent
A peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol
Wikipedia Page
NLR
(National LambdaRail) A high-speed national computer network in the United States that runs over fiber-optic lines, and is the first transcontinental Ethernet network.
Wikipedia Page
Protocol
When computers communicate with each other, there needs to be a common set of rules and instructions that each computer follows. A specific set of communication rules is called a protocol.
TechTerms Page
TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) The purpose was to allow computers to communicate over long distance networks.TCP/IP has since then become the foundation of the Internet.
TechTerms Page
Client-server
A computing architecture which separates a client from a server, and is almost always implemented over a computer network.
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Backbone
A backbone network provides a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.
Wikipedia Page
Wireless G
(IEEE 802.11g-2003) Amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band.
Wikipedia Page
DNS
(Domain Name System) Associates various sorts of information with so-called domain names; most importantly, it serves as the "phone book" for the Internet by translating human-readable computer hostnames into the IP addresses.
Wikipedia Page



Word Processor Terms

Word
Definition
Citation
Font
A font is a specific typeface of a certain size and style.
Techterms Page
Font Family
Coordinated set of glyphs designed with stylistic unity. It usually comprises an alphabet of letters, numerals, and punctuation marks; it may also include ideograms and symbols, or consist entirely of them, for example, mathematical or map-making symbols.
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Sans-serif
Typeface is one that does not have the small features called "serifs" at the end of strokes.
Wikipedia Page
Serif
Serifs are non-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols.
Wikipedia Page
Italic type
Refers to cursive typefaces based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting.
Wikipedia Page
Monospaced
Typefaces in which every glyph is the same width (as opposed to variable-width fonts, where the "w" and "m" are wider than most letters, and the "i" is narrower).
Wikipedia Page
Proportional spacing
Using different widths for different characters. In a proportionally spaced font, the letter I is narrower than the letter q and the letter m wider.
Webopedia Page
Point
In typography, a point is about 1/72 of an inch and is used to measure the height of characters.
Webopedia Page
Character
In computer software, any symbol that requires one byte of storage. This includes all the ASCII and extended ASCII characters, including the space character.
Webopedia Page
Forward slash
Also known as a solidus, virgule, or whack, the forward slash is the name of the "/" character on the computer keyboard.

At sign
(@, read aloud in English as "at") is a typographic symbol used as an abbreviation for "at". The at symbol has become ubiquitous because of its use in e-mail addresses.
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Ampersand
An ampersand (&), also commonly called an "and sign" is a logogram representing the conjunction "and."
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Tilda
The tilde (~) is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character comes from Spanish, from the Latin titulus meaning a title or superscription.
Wikipedia Page

Technology

Word
Definition
Citation
RF
Short for radio frequency, any frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. Many wireless technologies are based on RF field propagation.
ComputerHope Page
Ethernet
A family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs).
Wikipedia Page

Social Aspects

Word
Definition
Citation
Phishing
Phishing is a con game that scammers use to collect personal information from unsuspecting users.
TechTerms Page
Social Engineering
Collection of techniques used to manipulate people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.
Wikipedia Page
Confidential
Ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access.
Wikipedia Page
Integrity
Ensuring data is "whole" or complete, the condition in which data is identically maintained during any operation.
Wikipedia Page




Web Language

Word
Definition
Citation
SGML
(Standard Generalized Markup Language) A metalanguage in which one can define markup languages for documents.
Wikipedia Page
HTML
(Hyper-Text Markup Language) This is the language that Web pages are written in.
Techterms Page
XML
(Extensible Markup Language) Used to define documents with a standard format that can be read by any XML-compatible application.
Techterms Page
XHTML
(Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) A spinoff of the hypertext markup language (HTML) used for creating Web pages.
Techterms Page
Validation
Validation procedures typically are written into the program code and are therefore invisible to the user.
Webopedia Page
HTML element
In computing, an HTML element indicates structure in an HTML document and a way of hierarchically arranging content.
Wikipedia Page
Framing (World Wide Web)
On a web page, framing means that a website can be organized into frames. Each frame displays a different HTML document.
Wikipedia Page
Strict (programming language)
A strict programming language is one in which only strict functions may be defined by the user.
Wikipedia Page
Deprecated
Used typically in reference to a computer language to mean a command or statement in the language that is going to be made invalid or obsolete in future versions.
Webopedia Page
DTD (Document Type Definition)
A DTD is primarily used for the expression of a schema via a set of declarations that conform to a particular markup syntax and that describe a class, or type, of SGML or XML documents, in terms of constraints on the structure of those documents.
Wikipedia Page
Well-formed element
In web page design, and generally for all markup languages such as SGML, HTML, and XML, a well-formed element is one that is either: opened and subsequently closed, an empty element, which in that case must be terminated, or properly nested so that it does not overlap.
Wikipedia Page
CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
Cascading style sheets are used to format the layout of Web pages. They can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of Web pages that previously could only be defined in a page's HTML.
Techterms Page
Transitional
Developed to assist in the transition from earlier versions of HTML (including HTML 3.2). The Transitional and Frameset variants allow for presentational markup.
W3C Page
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or W3). It is arranged as a consortium where member organizations maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the W3.
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